Thursday 23 June. Day 7: Tetovo to Gostivar

June 23, 2016

This morning we were on the road by 5.45am (but given that it was already pretty hot by 7.30am, we decided that tomorrow needed to be even earlier!). Our route took us first south through the town onto the old road. This time it was not adjacent to the new road. The day before, I had multiple times heard trucks and thought they were barrelling down too fast behind me, certain to kill me, only to realise that they were in fact on the other road!

Even at 6am, things were strangely alive. We met several groups of boys/young men out on their bicycles in normal clothes, seemingly coming back from somewhere? I assumed it was something to do with Ramadan and being up early to eat/pray? But they looked as confused by our presence as we were by theirs.

The road to Gostivar passed through 6 or 7 small towns, with a strip of habitation the whole way along. We saw lots of cool stuff. Men and women on old pony traps. A small truck with a stainless steel tank in the back, collecting fresh milk out from pails brought out of the front of the houses by old men. We could smell the cows but never saw many. Small fields, agricultural buildings and vegetable gardens could just be seen behind many of the houses along the road. There were also many mosques and Muslim cemeteries; a few dogs and goats by the side of the road, lots of car repair shops and parts yards, empty half-built shops and houses. There was also a car yard specialising the Ford Transit Van. There are a huge number of second hand vehicles in Macedonia, with lots of parts yards dedicated to keeping them on the roads as long as possible. In Skopje I had been very confused by all the commercial vehicles with the branding and decals of German firms – until Malcolm made the connection for me that they were all second hand imports!

Empty town part 2. The thing is the shops etc were obviously not abandoned, they just had signs up mentioning Ramadan and everyone was at home I imagine. Trying not to get hot or use too much energy.

It was pretty quiet. We passed a couple of bakeries on the outskirts of Tetovo, but soon absolutely nothing was open due to Ramadan and the towns were like ghost towns. Hardly anyone was about, except for the occasional person waiting by the side of the road for a minibus to take them to another town for work. Mostly it was only men out and about, except for a couple of women waiting for the bus at one place. The roads were poor and there were many speed humps around the towns to slow people down.

In the middle of all this Albanian-ness, there was a very small Macedonian town. Flag, sign in Macedonian, little church. Taking being the minority in the area seriously!

It was actually a really entertaining ride. Always something to look at.

We arrived in Gostivar and checked into the ‘Hilton’ hotel. Although the branding was vaguely familiar, I assume this was not a ‘real’ Hilton?? No idea. It was a nice place and accepted us checking in a 10am! They had an undercover car park out the back which was excellent bike parking.

We went looking for breakfast, which was not altogether easy in this majority Albanian town. Eventually, we found a combined jazz club and bakery (!) which made a great leek pie (I think called Рамат or ‘ramat’ on the menu) and piroshki (deep fried bread in this case with ham and cheese). It also offered excellent people watching opportunities and coffee.

Deep fried bread. What can possibly go wrong.

In the afternoon, we wandered through the town. It was great fun. Lots of people just having their lives.

Gostivar - main road. Have you noticed yet that all the photos in towns have big hills in the background??

Old clock tower. Also a feature of most of the towns.

Gold's Gym! Not listed as a branch on the official website!!

A feature of parks throughout Macedonia. Remote control toy cars to rent.

The park on both sides of the river was full of 'attractions' including the dodgem cars on the left.

Dinner was pizza at the ‘Energy Bar’. Although Gostivar is supposed to be 30% Macedonian, most of the town was Albanian and it was hard to find food whilst still light. This place had food AND alcohol!

Pizza and people watching. Plus passive cigarette smoking. Every restaurant, every bar, every cafe. Bah!

Today's ride: 31 km (19 miles)
Total: 108 km (67 miles)

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